Prof. Ramsay - Eng. 102 - FALL 2024: Citation: Elements of an MLA Citation

9 Common Core Elements

The MLA 9 Handbook identifies 9 "core elements" common to most sources and provides guidelines on how to reference them in your Works Cited list.

​When you write a research paper, you use information and facts from a variety of resources to support your own ideas to develop new ones. You cite these sources for the following reasons:

• To Give Credit to the original source by acknowledging experts and scholars for their contribution.
• To Establish Credibility by demonstrating to your reader that your ideas are well supported. 
• To Help the Reader by guiding them to more information about your topic.
• To Help Researchers Organize and Share Information in a Standardized Way

If you do not cite your sources, that is PLAGIARISM. 

Note:  You must cite an author even if you paraphrase their words.